Michael McFaul, a former U. S. ambassador to Russia, will meet with President Trump ‘s top Russia adviser at the White House on Tuesday, according…
Michael McFaul, a former U. S. ambassador to Russia, will meet with President Trump ‘s top Russia adviser at the White House on Tuesday, according to a Washington Post report .
The meeting with Fiona Hill, a senior director on the National Security Council, comes days after the White House said the president was considering allowing Russian authorities to question U. S. officials, including McFaul.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later said that Trump « disagrees » with that proposal from the Kremlin, after the idea came under scrutiny from Democrats and Republicans and drew a rebuke from Trump’s own State Department.
The Senate also unanimously passed a resolution warning Trump against turning over former diplomats and officials for questioning.
According to the Post, it’s not clear what will be on the agenda for McFaul’s meeting with Hill, or whether the White House will seek to reassure the former ambassador that he will not be sent to Russia for interrogation.
A spokesperson for McFaul did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Hill is a well-known hawk on Russia and has been particularly critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin. She accompanied Trump to Helsinki last week for a summit with the Russian leader.
After the joint press conference, Russian prosecutor general’s office released a list of U. S. citizens that included McFaul and others who Russia believes are connected to British financier Bill Browder.
Trump stirred controversy at that summit when he challenged the U. S. intelligence community’s assessment that Moscow meddled in the 2016 election during a joint press conference with Putin.
He later walked back those remarks, insisting that he misspoke when he said that he saw no reason why Russia would meddle in U. S. affairs. He said he meant to say instead that he saw no reason why Russia « wouldn’t » interfere in American elections.
